Case name: Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia

Opinion filed: 1980-07-02

Docket No.: 79-243

Citations:
• 65 L. Ed. 2d 973
• 100 S. Ct. 2814
• 448 U.S. 555
• 1980 U.S. LEXIS 18

Case holding summaries:
• finding that open criminal trials “discouraged [ ] the misconduct of participants”
• holding that public has First Amendment right of access to criminal trials
• noting that "media representatives enjoy the same right of access as the public"
• “From this unbroken, uncontradicted history, supported by reasons as valid today as in centuries past, it must be concluded that a presumption of openness inheres in the very nature of a criminal trial under this Nation’s system of justice.”
• Prisons, by definition, are not open or public places.
• "Absent an overriding interest articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case must be open to the public."
• plurality opinion by Chief Justice Burger
• “Open trials assure the public that procedural rights are respected, and that justice is afforded equally. Closed trials breed suspicion of prejudice and arbitrariness, which in turn spawns disrespect for law.”
• reversing where “trial judge made no findings to support closure; no inquiry was made as to whether alternative solutions would have met the need to ensure fairness; there was no recognition of any right under the Constitution for the public or press to attend the trial”
• recognizing superiority of defendant's right to a fair trial over first amendment rights of nonparticipants
• holding that the First Amendment requires criminal trials to be open to the public
• plurality opinion of Burger, C.J.
• public and press enjoy first amendment right to attend criminal trials
• absent an overriding interest, closure violates right to attend criminal trials
• plurality opinion of Burger, J.
• there is a "presumption of openness [which] inheres in the very nature of a criminal trial under our system of justice"
• plurality opinion of Burger, J.
• "Absent an overriding interest, articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case must be open to the public."
• right of access to criminal proceedings may not be overcome only by the assertion that it might deprive the defendant of a right to a fair trial
• "[T]he right to attend criminal trials is implicit in the guarantees of the First Amendment...."
• holding that, under the First Amendment, the trial of a criminal defendant must ordinarily be open to the public and press
• "[A] trial courtroom also is a public place where the people generallyand representatives of the mediahave a right to be present, and where their presence historically has been thought to enhance the integrity and quality of what takes place."
• stating "that the right to attend criminal trials is implicit in the guarantees of the First Amendment; without the freedom to attend such trials ... important aspects of freedom of speech and `of the press could be eviscerated.'"
• finding that open criminal trials “discouraged [ ] the misconduct of participants”
• noting that “[t]o work effectively, it is important that society’s criminal process satisfy the appearance of justice” (quotation marks and citation omitted)
• explaining that “it would be difficult to single out any aspect of government of higher concern and importance to the people than the manner in which criminal trials are conducted”
• explaining that “it would be difficult to single out any aspect of government of higher concern and importance to the people than the manner in which criminal trials are conducted”
• criminal proceedings in a courtroom
• holding that the right of access to a trial may be curtailed where there are sufficiently powerful countervailing considerations
• explaining that “it would be difficult to single out any aspect of government of higher concern and importance to the people than the manner in which criminal trials are conducted”
• "In guaranteeing freedoms such as those of speech and press, the First Amendment can be read as protecting the right of everyone to attend trials so as to give meaning to those guarantees."
• multiple purposes of public access to conduct of criminal trial
• "Absent an overriding interest articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case must be open to the public." (emphasis added)
• "Absent an overriding interest articulated in findings, the trial of a criminal case must be open to the public." (emphasis added)
• Court found it was "reasonably foreseeable that other trials may be closed by other judges without any more showing of need than is presented on this record"
• noting that “historically both civil and criminal trials have been presumptively open”
• access to trial proceedings in a criminal case
• also involving public access to a criminal trial
• holding that without good cause, criminal trials must be open to the public
• “The freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, expressly guaranteed by the First Amendment, share a common core purpose of assuring freedom of communication on matters relating to the functioning of government.”
• likelihood of closure orders in other criminal trials sufficient to satisfy "capable of repetition" element
• "(m)ore often than not ... a closure order 'will evade review ...' "
• providing panegyric on the value of openness
• right of public access to criminal trials
• recognizing a right to report on public trials and describing the First Amendment right as extending to "streets, sidewalks, and parks[, which] are places traditionally open"
• “To work effectively, it is important that society’s criminal process ‘satisfy the appearance of justice,’ [citation] *** [which] can best be provided by allowing people to observe it.”
• public has constitutional right of access to criminal trials
• Constitution guarantees qualified right to attend trial
• plurality opinion of Burger, C.J.
• stating that print and electronic media are the public's chief source of information about trials and that media coverage of legal proceedings contributes to public understanding of the rule of law

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